Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE
METHOD FOR CONTEXT SENSITIVE CONCEALMENT OF AN INPUT FIELD
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for the context sensitive
concealment
of an input field. In particular, the present invention relates to a method
for
concealing and revealing sensitive data, especially on devices using twelve
key
keypads.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
As known in the art, entry of alphanumeric characters on devices equipped with
a standard twelve (12) key mobile phone keypad typically comprises either
pressing multiple keys (chording) or tapping (actuating) a key multiple times
(multi-tap) to select, or compose, a given alphanumeric character. As known in
the art using the multi-tap method, a short delay (referred to hereinafter as
a
"composition timeout") is provided during within which if the same key is
pressed, the alphanumeric character displayed is replaced by the next
character. The composition timeout is typically fairly short, on the order of
one
second. Failure to enter a tap on the same key during the composition timeout
leads to the currently displayed character being seized by the device and
fixed
on the display.
In many applications involving the entry of sensitive data such as passwords,
the input field is masked or otherwise concealed during input such that the
actual input remains invisible, effectively proscribing another's ability to
read
sensitive data from the input field. In a traditional environment comprising a
complete keyboard this type of concealment is generally adequate and poses
little problem (although, as will be seen below, this also has drawbacks). In
a
system using the multi-tap method, however, where a certain amount of visual
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feed back is required to ensure that the correct character is keyed, complete
concealment of the character in question proves problematic and typically
leads
to many false entries, especially when the user is disturbed during entry.
This
can prove particularly inefficient when entering passwords as many systems
refuse access after a small number of incorrect entries.
One prior art method for concealing characters and even entire input fields
during multi-tap entry is as follows. As characters are composed, they are
made visible to the user in clear text. For example, in order to compose the
character "c" the user taps key 2 thrice, first revealing the character "a"
followed
by "b" and arriving at "c" on the third tap. Once the wished for character has
been composed and seized by the device, the character displayed is
concealed, or masked, by replacing it with a wildcard character such as an
asterisk. However, once the character has been concealed in this fashion,
there is generally no way that the user can view it again. Additionally, and
as
will be understood by a person of skill in the art, as further characters are
entered and concealed in this fashion there is generally no way that the user
can view any (or all) of these characters (as they are masked, again typically
with an asterisk).
Additionally, due to the variety of input modes that exist on many mobile
handsets (for example lowercase mode, uppercase mode, symbol mode,
numeric mode, lowercase mode with capitalizing of the first letter, etc.)
users
frequently enter unexpected or unwanted characters. For example, in "Abc"
mode where the first letter is always capitalized, the user may easily enter
"Password" instead of "password" without noticing it. As passwords are
typically
case-sensitive this can lead to a proliferation of password entry errors. This
drawback is further compounded in that the indicator of the mode currently
active while the user is entering masked data is frequently not clearly
displayed. For example, the current mode indicator is typically located away
from the input field and outside of the user's area of attention (positioned
at a
corner of the screen, for example).
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Similar drawbacks also arise in more conventional devices which include full
keyboards (such as the ubiquitous QWERTY keyboard) combined with a
single-tap entry method. As discussed above, in these cases the character
being entered is completely invisible and is typically replaced immediately
with
an asterisk. Due to the low quality of some keypads as well as their small
size,
especially on hand held devices, the probability that a wrong key is
depressed,
two keys depressed at once or the same key depressed twice is high resulting
in a large number of errors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to overcome the above and other drawbacks, there is disclosed a
method for displaying characters on a device comprising a display and a
keypad. The method comprises the steps of composing a series of characters
using the keypad, the series of characters forming a character string,
displaying
the character string on the display, completing composition of the character
string and concealing the character string following completion of
composition.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
Figure 1 is a front plan view of a mobile device in accordance with and
illustrative embodiment of the present invention;
Figures 2A through 2C provide front plan views of a device implementing one
method for the display of sensitive data according to the prior art; and
Figures 3A through 3E provide front plan views of a device implementing a
method for the display of sensitive data according to an illustrative
embodiment
of the present invention.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to Figure 1, a mobile device, generally referred to using the
reference numeral 10, will now be described. The mobile device 10 is
comprised of a keypad 12, illustratively comprised of a twelve (12) key
numeric
keypad 14 and additional function keypad 16, which can include, for example, a
four-way scroll key with centre select 18, soft-keys, application-keys, edit
and
clear keys, send & end keys, multimedia keys, etc..
Still referring to Figure 1, the mobile device 10 is additionally equipped
with a
display 20, such as an active matrix colour display, for viewing locally
stored
data such as contact lists, call logs, configuration settings, etc., as well
as web
pages, e-mail, etc.. As known in the art, the display 20 and associated
operating system software (not shown) provide the interaction and display
capabilities which allow a user to interact with the device 10 as well as
other
devices interconnected with the device 10 via a communications link, such as
web servers, e-mail servers, etc.. The display 20 typically supports the
formatted presentation of information in a variety of forms including text
strings
22, graphics/pictures 24 and icons 26. Additionally, information is typically
displayed along with one or more control objects, such as buttons 28, check
boxes 30, sliders (not shown) and edit boxes 32, which allow the user to
manipulate or otherwise interact with the displayed information. Typically,
using
the four-way scroll key 18, for example to control a cursor 34, the user can
migrate (shift focus) between and interact with the control objects.
Still referring to Figure 1, by activating an edit box (or input field) as in
32, the
user can input data, such as alphanumeric characters using, for example, the
twelve (12) key numeric keypad 14 and the multi-tap character input method as
described hereinabove.
Referring now to Figures 2A through 2C, as discussed above one prior art
method for entering sensitive strings (such as passwords) involves, as the
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characters are composed, making them visible to the user in clear text. Once
the wished for character has been composed and seized by the device, the
character is concealed by replacing it with an asterisk. For example, in
Figure
2A, the character "d" has been added to a character string 36 into the input
field
32 using the multi-tap method by pressing numeric key "3" (reference 38 on
Figure 1) once. Referring now to Figure 2B, after a shortly delay (as
discussed
above, typically one second) the character is seized and concealed with an
asterisk. This prior art method allows the user to delete characters already
seized and concealed, for example by backspacing over the character or the
like. Additionally, and referring now to Figure 2C, the prior art method also
allows for the insertion of additional characters at any point within the
character
string 36, however the other characters remain concealed behind an asterisk.
Referring now to Figure 3A, in order to simplify the correct entry of
sensitive
data into an input field 32, the user begins by entering the sensitive
character
string 36, for example using the twelve (12) key numeric keypad 14 and the
multi-tap character input method as described hereinabove. However, instead
of concealing each character immediately following its composition, the
characters of the entire sensitive character string 36 remain visible during
its
composition. The character string 36 is only concealed on completion of its
composition, which can be indicated to the device 10 by the user in a number
of ways, for example the user does not press any key for a configurable short
period of time (for example 3 seconds) or the user moves focus away from the
input field 32 in question (for example by moving the cursor 34 to another
input
field or control object).
Referring now to Figure 3B, following concealment of the character string 36,
the user may reveal the concealed character string 36 by performing an
additional action within an aflotted period of time (for example 60 seconds).
Examples of additional actions include, for example, the user attempting to
add
an additional character to the character string 36 already entered or the user
returning focus to the input field 32 and positioning the cursor 34 left or
right of
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the concealed characters. Referring now to Figure 3C, at this point the
concealed character string 36 is revealed and user is free to move the cursor
34 to the position where it is wished to make the changes.
In order to protect the sensitive character string 34, in the event the user
fails to
reveal the concealed character string 36 within the allotted period of time,
the
concealed character string remains so, even if the user attempts to add an
additional character to the string or returns focus to the input field 32.
The described method also foresees a number of other features which may
prove opportune in a given implementation. For example, if the input field 34
is
for entering a password and the password entered into input field 34 is used
successfully, the input field becomes non-editable. Additionally, and
referring to
Figure 3D, if the user returns focus to the input field 32, the entire
concealed
character string 34 is selected and the cursor is not displayed. Referring to
Figure 3E, attempted entry of characters into the input field 32 at this point
results in the concealed character string 36 being erased. Additionally, in
order
to provide the user with an indication of the current status of the input
field, an
indicator 40 as to the entry mode currently active for the input field 32 may
be
provided for. Furthermore, as many of the parameters used in support of the
method as described herein are configurable, a specific entry mode to the
input
field 34, for example in order to provide the user with a familiar context
over
time for entry of sensitive data such as passwords, can be a pre-configured
default or can be based on a user's previous configuration.
Although the present invention has been described hereinabove by way of an
illustrative embodiment thereof, this embodiment can be modified at will,
within
the scope of the present invention, without departing from the spirit and
nature
of the subject of the present invention.
